Caps blitzed by young Sabres
Washington shows its age, loses ground in playoff chase
BUFFALO, N.Y. — After surrendering a fifth goal to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, Washington Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper could no longer contain his frustration. He grabbed his stick with both gloves and swung it as hard as he could against the goal post. The stick broke in half and splintered across the ice. As an official crouched over to collect the remnants, Kuemper skated off the ice. He removed his mask and spiked it as he walked down the tunnel toward the dressing room.
Washington had started Kuemper for a second game in as many days, a rarity in today’s NHL, but the 32-year-old had no chance Sunday afternoon in the Capitals’ 7-4 loss. In a contest matching the league’s oldest and youngest teams, the grizzled Capitals made too many defensive mistakes to keep up with the youthful Sabres at KeyBank Center as Washington lost more ground in the Eastern Conference wild-card chase.
The Capitals impressed again offensively — Alex Ovechkin scored his 33rd goal to snap a six-game drought, T.J. Oshie had another multi-point game, and Sonny Milano stayed hot with his second goal in as many games — but they played loose on the back end and exposed Kuemper to the frenetic pace of the Sabres, who parlayed Washington’s many miscues into six goals by the end of the second period.
“Four [goals] should be good enough to win a hockey game for me,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. “Defensively, we definitely had some mistakes, especially in the second period.”
Both teams entered with 64 points and in the hunt for a wild-card spot (though Buffalo has played four fewer games), and Sunday was an especially deflating outcome for Washington considering it came a day after it snapped a six-game skid with a 6-3 home rout of the New York Rangers. That victory lifted the mood of a dressing room that had been peppered with questions about the future of the franchise after the team traded veterans Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway to the Boston Bruins, and Kuemper had played a key role Saturday but had not been overworked while making 23 saves. That led Laviolette to turn to the team’s most important free agent signing of the offseason again Sunday to open a four-game trip.
The Sabres simply played in a higher gear, even without injured forward Alex Tuch. Dylan Cozens, who scored three times, revved past Capitals center Dylan Strome in the first period, cradling a centering feed from Casey Mittelstadt and beating Kuemper to make it 1-0 at 10:40.
In the first 20 minutes, Washington absorbed Buffalo’s haymakers and countered with its own. Strome tied the score with his second goal in 14 games at 14:45, and after Buffalo’s Tage Thompson converted a careless defensive-zone turnover by Evgeny Kuznetsov to make it 2-1 at 16:35, Oshie answered 15 seconds off a pass from Strome.
But the game unraveled during a seven-minute stretch of the second period as Washington’s blue line — missing Orlov and star John Carlson, who remains out after being hit in the side of the head by a slap shot in late December — made a string of mistakes.
The Capitals failed to clear the puck, leading to a rebound putback by Jeff Skinner to make it 3-2 at 5:49. Defenseman Matt Irwin retrieved the puck but lost it in the corner, leading to a goal by Zemgus Girgensons at 8:36. After Mittelstadt carved through the neutral once more, 2021 No. 1 pick Owen Power got the puck to Vinnie Hinostroza in front for a backhand goal as the Sabres took a commanding 5-2 lead at 10:07.
“It’s tough because it’s kind of been the story for the last month or so, where after a good stretch of hockey, we just couldn’t seem to find it,” defenseman Nick Jensen said. “Pucks just keep finding their way into the back of the net, and guys are getting discouraged and confidence is shrinking more and more as that happens.”
Kuemper vented his frustration at that point, and Laviolette sent backup Charlie Lindgren (16 saves) in to finish the game. Cozens scored again less than three minutes later to extend Buffalo’s lead. The Capitals continued to flash the sort of offense that eluded them during their losing streak, pulling within two goals late in the period after Ovechkin and Milano
scored, but they had dug themselves a hole too deep.
The third period turned into a rave. Techno music pulsated through the building during stoppages, and the crowd littered the ice with caps after Cozens finished his hat trick at 11:52. At one point, as Buffalo continued its onslaught, Lindgren lost a skate blade after making a save. It was the last piece of goaltending equipment that had been splayed across the ice Sunday.
“The consistency of attention to detail for us right now has to be at an all-time high,” Oshie said. “We’re not going to last much longer being inconsistent like this.”
Here’s what else to know about the Capitals’ loss:
Ovechkin scores No. 813
Washington’s captain scored for the first time since returning to the team last week after the death of his father; he netted career goal No. 813 late in the second period. It was the 40th goal Ovechkin has scored against the Sabres; Buffalo is the ninth franchise Ovechkin has scored at least 40 goals against. He moved into second all-time in that category, trailing only Phil Esposito (10).
Johansson out again
Forward Marcus Johansson missed a second straight game with a non-COVID illness as the Capitals rolled out the same lineup from the previous day. Defenseman Alexander Alexeyev and forward Aliaksei Protas were healthy scratches, and forward Anthony Mantha missed a third consecutive game with an upper-body injury.